Gaborone (named after Chief Kgosi Gabarone [4]) is the capital and largest city of Botswana [5] with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, [6] about 10% of the total population of Botswana.
Gaborone is situated between Kgale and Oodi Hills, on the Notwane River [7] in the southeastern corner of Botswana, and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the South African border. [8] The city is served by the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport [9]. It is an administrative district in its own right, but is the capital of the surrounding South-East District [10]. [11] Locals often refer to the city as Gabs. [12]
Because the city had no tribal affiliation and was close to fresh water, the city was planned [13] to be the capital in the mid-1960s when the Bechuanaland Protectorate [14] became an independent nation. The center of the city is a long strip of commercial businesses, called the Mall, with a semicircle-shaped area of government offices to the west of the Mall. The city is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world, and this has created problems with housing and illegal settlements. The city has also dealt with conflicts spilling into the country from Zimbabwe [15] and South Africa [16] during the 1980s.
The city is the government capital as well as the economic capital; the city is headquarters to numerous companies and the Botswana Stock Exchange [17]. Gaborone is also home to the Southern African Development Community [18] (SADC) a supranational organization, hoping to increase economic unity.